


Too good to be true

by Bulls99



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, chosen family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bulls99/pseuds/Bulls99
Summary: While preparing to leave for the Heart Kingdom, Nozel arrives at the Black Bulls base and makes an offer to Noelle that is too good to be true - at least that's what she would have said a year ago.
Relationships: Asta & Noelle Silva, Black Bulls Ensemble & Noelle Silva, Finral Roulacase & Noelle Silva, Nebra Silva & Noelle Silva & Nozel Silva & Solid Silva, Noelle Silva & Nozel Silva, Noelle Silva & Yami Sukehiro
Comments: 11
Kudos: 91





	1. The Offer

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome everyone, this is my first ever story, so please enjoy! I love the Black Bulls squad, and I also really enjoy reading about the Silva family, even if I hate them in canon, other than Nozel (and Noelle obviously). I do like the fact that Nozel apologised in canon, but to be honest, I would like to see a bit more repentance from them, as the other two haven't said a word to her yet. Thus this story was born! This takes place just before the group leaves to go to the Heart Kingdom, so beware of spoilers if you're not up to date with anime and manga!

There was a nervous but excited energy surrounding those in the Black Bulls base, an unusual atmosphere for the usually laid back group, but it was to be expected. Soon, many members of the squad would be leaving to receive training from the Spirit Guardians of the Heart Kingdom to try and learn unique magic from them in an attempt to gain strength to defeat the approaching threat of the Spade Kingdom. However, several members wouldn't, taking their training in to their own hands, meaning they would be split up for the next 6 months at least.

The Bulls were preparing for one last party as a group. Charmy was predictably leading the charge with her army of sheep cooks, and Vanessa desperately trying to convince the others to let her get even more alcohol.

"Please Captain, this isn't nearly enough, if this is going to be are last party shouldn't we be going all out?" Vanessa said, shamelessly draping herself over the hulking figure of Yami.

"As if you need anymore, you're already hammered you drunkard," Magna muttered, unimpressed with her whining.

"What was that, virgin-delinquent? Just because you can't handle your drink, doesn't mean the rest of us should go without," Vanessa said, easily getting under the fire mages skin.

"Who you calling a virgin?!" Magna screamed back, taking the bait as always.

"Ahaha, Magna it's alright, we all know that you can't handle yourself, no need to get all embarrassed over it," Luck shouted from the side.

Magna reacted as Luck had hoped, immediately drawing out a flaming bat from his grimoire, attempting to hit Luck with balls of fire, though the lightning mage easily evaded, laughing all the way.

"Ahaha, you'll never be able to hit me with a weak attack like that Magna!" Luck exclaimed, drawing out even more rage from Magna.

"Just you wait till we get to the Heart Kingdom, once I learn their magic runes, I'll crush you Luck!" Magna screamed shrilly, about to draw out his more powerful spells.

"That's enough, you idiots!" Yami said, clearly fed up from being distracted. Smashing his fist into a wall, the rowdy Bulls quickly calmed down, successfully intimidated by the impressive show of power from their Captain.

Off to the side, Noelle sat with Finral, both a bit exasperated by the usual display of foolishness from their two squad mates, though Noelle was far more vocal about it.

"Geez, what do those two idiots think they're doing? We'll all be leaving soon, and this is how they decide to spend their time? Idiots," Noelle said disdainfully. Finral saw through it easily though, used to the harsh outer shell of their resident princess. 

Smiling at her, he said, "Don't you think it's nice though? Everyone has been a bit tense lately, so I'm glad for a bit of normalcy before we start our training."

"Hmph, everyone seems plenty normal to me, heck even though we're going to leave on a training mission, Bakasta is still out there training. Geez, he really needs to know when to take a break," Noelle muttered the last few words, a pretty flush appearing on her cheeks, no doubt thinking about their resident muscle head.

That was certainly true though. Asta had been training like a mad man ever since his trial with the magic parliament, wanting to make sure he could not only defeat the devils of the Spade Kingdom, but also clear his name in the process. Finral though knew that Noelle wasn't being completely genuine though, as he had more than once seen her leaving the base late at night to go get her own training in, a fiercely determined look on her face, and then the next morning she would pretend she had no idea why half the forest had been flooded. While Noelle had always liked to do her own training, Finral found it a bit strange just how seriously she was devoting herself to getting stronger. While everyone wanted to help out Asta, Noelle had taken it to another level, and though he couldn't be sure, he was fairly certain it went beyond just a desire to help Asta like the rest of them had, though he had know idea as to what that thing was exactly.

Just as he had finished that thought, the doors had been flung open by Asta, still sweating and shirtless from his training, and an excited look on his face.

"Everyone, look who has come to pay us a visit!" Asta shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

Much to everyones surprise, the Captain of the Silver Eagles was the one to follow Asta through the doors, a slight frown on his ever stoic face. This really was a surprise, of all the captains, Nozel Silva was probably the least likely one to pay the Black Bulls base a visit, despite having a younger sister in said squad. And while visits from captains weren't that uncommon for them, with Mereoleona occasionally popping in to drag then on some horrifying training exercise, no one had any idea as to what Nozel was doing personally visiting the Black Bulls base. Including his little sister.

“Big brother Nozel, what are you doing here?!" Noelle shouted, shooting up from her seat next to Finral.

Nozel said nothing in response to his sisters outburst, though he did send a glance in her direction. While it didn't hold the open contempt it once had, it wasn't exactly affectionate either, and not knowing how to interpret the look, Noelle sat down, an embarrassed blush quickly spreading over her face. Finral frowned, while he knew that the two siblings had reconciled, he also knew Noelle was far from comfortable in the presence of her eldest brother.

Nozel continued to stride forward confidently, unfazed by the less than friendly looks he was receiving from many members of the squad, as you'd expect from a captain of royal birth. Once he reached Yami, he stopped, holding out a rolled up piece of paper that had an official looking wax seal on it. Yami had barely looked up from his newspaper despite Nozel's arrival, however when he saw the Wizard King's official seal on the piece of paper, he raised an eyebrow before letting out a deep sigh.

"What is it now? Can't a man ever get a break..." Yami continued to mutter as he broke the seal and proceeded to read from the piece of paper. Eventually though, his eyes opened wide, a genuine look of surprise on the usually unshakable man's face. Nozel didn't visibly react, but Yami, and Asta, could clearly tell from the feel of his ki that he was radiating smug satisfaction. The rest of the Bulls waited with bated breath, clearly on edge about what the letter contained to draw a reaction from their captain.

"Captain Yami, what is it!?" Asta asked first.

Yami said nothing, though he did let out another exhale, this one feeling much more hostile somehow than the one before. Yami rose to his feet, easily towering over the Silver Eagles captain, not that Nozel looked intimidated in the least.

"What the hell do you think you're up to stupid-braid? Is this some kind of joke? Cause if it isn't you best be ready for an ass kicking," Yaim said, threatening the other captain without hesitation.

The rest of the team tensed up, not prepared and unsure as to why there was escalation in hostility between the two men as they stared each other down. Nozel broke the look first, immediately turning to face Noelle. She sucked in a sharp breath, clearly not expecting to be the cause of the sudden tension in the room.

"Noelle, I'll be blunt, I want you to come and join the Silver Eagles," Nozel said, unflinching in the face of a now openly hostile squad of mages. The result of such a statement was predictable.

"EHHH!" 

No one had been expecting that and the look on Noelle's face had gone from nervous to downright shocked, in utter disbelief that after all this time, her brother had finally requested he join his squad, their families squad. Magna started screaming insults at Nozel, though these went unheard, as Nozel kept his focus on his youngest sibling.

"Not only that, but that piece of paper was a formal declaration that I intend to make you the Vice-Captain of the Silver Eagles, approved by the Wizard King," Nozel continued calmly, causing yet another eruption of noise, "You would become the youngest Vice-Captain in the history of the Magic Knights, and then when I become Wizard King in the following years, you would likely become the youngest Captain as well." The sheer arrogance was somehow both surprising and expected coming from the royal. 

"I-I..." Noelle managed to stutter out, but it was increasingly clear that Noelle would likely explode before she managed to get a decent reply out. Nozel was getting a bit impatient at this, frustrated somewhat by the screaming of the peasants around him. Seeing this, Vanessa managed to break out of her own state of shock and came to rescue the younger girl. 

"Come on now, how can you drop a bombshell like that out of no where and expect a response," Vanessa said, making her way over to fling an arm around Noelle. This irritated Nozel a bit, unhappy at seeing such a mess of a woman cling to his sister. However he did take the hint that he was unlikely to get a straight answer out of Noelle right now, so he sighed before saying one last thing.

'i understand you had intended to travel to the Heart Kingdom to train with the foreigners. This is unnecessary, and should you join, I can assure you you would receive the highest level of training partner - me," this somewhat broke Noelle out of her state, and her eyes shot to Nozel as he continued, "You have become strong Noelle, and I know together we can push each other to new heights." This finally brought a slight smile to Noelle's face, as taken aback as she was by the whole situation, she still couldn't help but love when Nozel complimented her, given this was probably the second time in her whole life it had happened.

Seeing this, Nozel smiled slightly himself, glad that he had left a positive impression, and without another word he strode out of the base just as confidently as he had arrived, leaving on a flying eagle made of mercury.

Following Nozel's exit, there was an uneasy silence in the base, with no one really sure how to react now the opposing captain had left. Noelle was still under Vanessa's protective arm, tense beyond belief. Finally mustering up the courage Noelle moved away from Vanessa, and looked up to her captain.

“Captain Yami, I…” Noelle trailed off into silence, barely able to speak, meekly looking to her captain for guidance.

Yami had been feeling majorly annoyed by the gall of Nozel. He had been the one to ship her off to him when Noelle was still a weakling, but now she had flourished under his squad, he was going to swoop in and steal the rewards? He had another thing coming that was for sure. Looking down at his most junior member though, clearly unsure of what to say, he let out another sigh, something that had happened far too often tonight, and sank back into his seat. He saw that the rest of his squad was also awaiting his judgement, and so he finally gave it.

“I’ve always told you lot haven’t I? You need to take your futures into your own two hands, and make it what you want it to be. Noelle, at the end of the day, this is your choice, and what your stupid brother said was true, you’ve gotten strong here, and now you need to make your own decisions. If you stay here you won’t progress nearly as quickly up the ranks as you would there with him. Here though, you’ll always be in some kind of danger, with all the dumb asses on this squad, trouble is bound to find us,” the captain said, seeing some of his other subordinated looking like they wanted to smack him for selling his own squad so short, despite it being pretty accurate, in his opinion. Looking at Noelle, he could tell it really hadn’t helped at all, and she was feeling even more conflicted now he had made the Silver Eagles more appealing.

Getting up from his seat once again, Yami walked past Noelle to get to Finral.

“Oi, transport, I need to go to the can, so send me there already,” Yami said, causing Final to appear surprisingly annoyed.

“Are you seriously choosing now of all times to take your leave?” Finral shouted, in disbelief that even at a time like this Yami was being so nonchalant.

Yami turned around a bit to look at Noelle, who’s face was still all screwed up in deep thought. Placing his hand on her head, Noelle’s eyes shot up to look at the captain who had taken her in when no one else would.

“I don’t know why all you idiots are kicking up such a fuss,” Yami sighed, “Noelle knows what to do and I’m sure she will make the choice that is right. You guys should have more faith in your own squad.” With that he turned away and looked expectantly at Finral, who complied with opening a portal. Noelle had finally relaxed somewhat, happy to have the confidence of her captain, when he turned around just before walking through the portal.

“And if she doesn’t make the right choice, I can just kill her I guess,” with that terrifying last statement, Yami sauntered off and the portal closed. Noelle had a terrified look in her face, just as the surrounding members let out a collective laugh at their captains usual threat to his squad members. At the sound of everyone laughing, Noelle relaxed once again, feeling comfortable in the presence of her squad.

“Well I guess we can tell what you’ll be doing now, huh Lady Noe,” Magna said, finally calming down from his earlier rage.

“That’s right, no way can we let you go, I still haven’t got to fight you in you’re Valkyrie dress yet, Noelle-chan,” Luck said gleefully, which put Noelle slightly on edge. Sighing, she turned to the person who had been shockingly quiet throughout the entire meeting. Asta had an unusually complicated look on his face, and he seemed uncharacteristically deep in thought.

“Asta?” Noelle questioned, slightly confused by the look on his face.

“Well, it’s been a good run I guess, but I suppose we’ll be saying goodbye, huh?” Asta said, which caused Noelle to look a bit shocked, and the rest looked at him like he was an idiot.

“What the hell are you talking about Asta? Didn’t you hear? Noelle is staying with us, no question about it,” Magna said confidently.

“Why though? We shouldn’t hold back Noelle just because we’ll miss her. If she has the chance to get closer with her family, and move forward in the ranks, shouldn’t we support her as her friends?” Asta said, surprisingly mature in his though process for once. Unfortunately for him, this unexpected maturity came at the wrong time.

“You, you’re such a - such a…” Noelle said softly, as she started trembling slightly.

“Oh shit, she’s going to explode,” Magna said, as he and the others wisely gave Asta and Noelle a wide berth.

“Huh?” Asta said dumbly, as Nero who had been resting in his hair took flight.

“You’re such an idiot!” Noelle screamed. Much to no one but Astra’s surprise, an explosion of magic sent Asta rocketing back into a wall, thoroughly soaking him and leaving a deep crack in the wall. 

“Ow, ow, ow, what the hell Noe-,” Asta cut himself off at the look on Noelle’s face. He had seen her rage plenty of times, that wouldn’t be enough to make him pause these days, but the slightly tearful look did give him pause. He’d seen Noelle cry before, but never because of him and it deeply shook him.  
Before he could say another word, she stormed off, leaving the base in her anger and slamming the door shut, Everyone looked a bit stunned as well, not expecting such a dramatic exit. Groaning, everyone in the squad glared at Asta, even Nero and her beady little bird eyes, before letting out a single word.

“Idiot.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second and final chapter!

Following Noelle’s dramatic exit, no one inside the base was really sure how to act. On one hand, there was the natural desire to run after their squad mate who was clearly upset. On the other hand though, everyone knew how Noelle got when her emotions were running high, and so it was unlikely that anyone could really comfort her anyhow. That didn’t stop Asta though from trying his best however.

“Noelle!” Asta shouted after a moment, and just as he was about to run off to go and track her down, an arm reached out and stopped his exit. 

“Why don’t you calm down for a moment, hmm,” Vanessa said, being the one to intercept the magic-less boy. While Vanessa knew that Asta meant well, he was probably the one who could do the least to calm down Noelle, given how flustered she got by him even on her best days. 

“But shouldn’t we go after her? She was crying!” Asta shouted, clearly upset at being the one who had caused said tears. Vanessa sighed before taking Asta by the arm, pulling him over to one of the seats, before dragging him down, an arm wrapped over his shoulder.

“Why don’t you let Big Sis explain to you some things about women, ok?” Vanessa said with her usual teasing drawl, causing Asta to go a but tense.

“Then… what about Noelle?” Asta questioned, still unsure about the whole situation.

“Hmmm,” Vanessa hummed, before looking over to the assembled group of mages, before swiftly deciding the best person for the job, “Finral, why don’t you go? You should know how to calm her down right?”

“Eh, why me?” Finral asked before looking at the rest of his squad. Magna and Luck would rather start a fight than have a single hope at comforting the water mage, Charmy was still off in the back cooking, Gauche was barely paying attention and Gray and Gordon were both muttering into their hands, clearly upset by the whole situation, but would never be able to vocalise it correctly. Seeing this, Final sighed in resignation before agreeing to go, and he quickly walked out of the base.

Finral was no expert in tracking mana like Luck was, however you would have to be completely blind not to feel the levels of mana that was flooding through the forest like the girls element. Quickly following the trail, he came across Noelle, no longer crying, but still distressed, firing off blasts of water magic without her wand. It was a testament to her improved ability that even without the aid of a magic item, most of the water bullets smashed into the target, despite her unsettled emotions. 

“Hey, Noelle-chan!” Finral yelled over the roar of the girls magic, effectively getting her attention. Noelle was obviously surprised at the spacial mages appearance, which showed just how distracted she was, as Finral had made no effort to disguise his approach. Quickly stopping her magical output, she turned to look at him.

“What is it?” she questioned, trying to act like normal. Finral didn’t say anything at first, instead deciding to walk over and place a hand on her shoulder. Even this amount of contact caused Noelle to flinch away violently, making Finral frown. Even after all this time, she was so unused to friendly contact. Before he could say anything else, she moved back into her original spot, allowing for the hand on her shoulder to stay, bringing Finral some relief at least. Guiding her over to a log to sit on, the two were quiet for a moment, before Finral broke the silence.

“Do you want to talk about how you’re feeling?” FInral started, before cringing a bit at the generic question. Luckily, it seemed Noelle was in a talking mood.

“Right now I just feel stupid,” Noelle said softly, “Asta was trying to be nice, and I just blew up in his face like that. But that idiot… I don’t know why, but him saying that I should go really got to me.” Finral looked at her a bit, and she blushed. She definitely knew why it got to her coming from Asia, even if she wouldn’t admit It out loud. Finral smiled a bit at her normal reaction, before continuing.

“Well, Asta is a bit dense, we all know that for sure,” Noelle scoffed at the understatement, “But like you said, he was only trying to support what he thinks is best for you, even if that might not make him happy. And Noelle, no one would be happy to see you leave the squad, least of all Asta.” This made Noelle smile, genuinely happy to hear that from Finral. As much as she pretended not to, she had a lot of respect for the older squad member.

“Anyway, other than that, how do you feel about the offer from your brother?” Finral questioned, causing Noelle to tense up again, “After what Yami-san said everyone sort of assumed you would be staying I guess, but no one asked you at all what you made of it.” 

Noelle was quiet for a minute, gathering her thoughts, before finally admitting, “All of my life, all I had wanted from my brother was to tell me that he had been wrong, that I wasn’t a failure, that I was wanted, that he lo-loved me.” Noelle stumbled on the last part, clearly becoming upset at the thought of the treatment of her siblings. “So hearing him say those things, so publicly in front of everyone, it made me really happy, and for a second, I even thought about accepting.” She felt a little ashamed at the admission, curling into herself a little. Finral though wasn’t surprised by her feelings.

“I think I can understand a little of your feelings Noelle,” Finral said, causing Noelle to look sharply in his direction, “While I’m not of royal birth like you, my family still expects great things from their heirs. For generations we have produced offensive spacial mages who represent the Vaude house in the magic knights. I’m sure you can guess, a weakling like me with no hope of winning a battle by himself only brought shame to my house, especially when my younger brother was born with prodigious attack magic. For the first time in our families history, the eldest son was replaces as heir.” Finral chuckled. It wasn’t a nice laugh Noelle thought, it was full of self-deprecation. Reaching out she hesitantly laid a hand on Finral’s shoulder.

“You’re not a failure Finral,” Noelle started, “Anyone who can keep on a squad like this has to be strong right? And besides, without you, we would have lost every battle against the elves we’ve ever had,” Noelle was getting a bit uncomfortable with the niceties, clearly unused to comforting anyone herself. Finral appreciated the effort though, and with a more genuine laugh, he replied.

“Look at this, I’m the one who was meant to comfort you, but here you here making me feel better about myself. I’m honoured you think so highly of me Noelle,” Finral teased, making Noelle snatch her hand back in embarrassment.

“Whatever,” she murmured quietly. 

“Anyway, enough about me, what made you change your mind about joining the Silver Eagles?”

This caused Noelle to get a bit more serious again.

“It’s just… why is it that I only have value to my family now that I can fight? A family is meant to protect and care for you no matter what right? I saw it with that girl from Nean, Rebecca I think. They had nothing, no magic, no money, and yet they cared for each other so much. Why is it that he thinks just because he says two words to me about being sorry, I’m meant to forgive him for years and years of hatred, over nothing I could even control. The other two haven’t even apologised yet!” Noelle shouted, starting to get more and more worked up, as she thought about it, “That’s not how family should work at all! Everyone at the Black Bulls treated me with more care after one day of knowing me them than my real family ever has. And now I’m just meant to give everyone up, because I’m worth something to them now? As if.” Noelle finished her rant, slightly out of breath.

Finral was honestly taken aback by the vehemence of her words, surprised she had such strong sense of what family meant to her. Though he supposed he should have expected it, given he himself had thought many times about how the Black Bulls were more of a family to him than his ‘real’ family was. 

“I’m glad you feel so strongly about us Noelle,” Finral started, “And it makes me happy to know that you aren’t going anywhere. That being said, at the end of the day, your family is your family, as much as you may want to change it, you can’t. So even if you aren’t going to leave and join their squad, I think you should still try and forgive them, even if they don’t deserve it.”

“I know,” Noelle said quietly, more calm now, “But still…the Black Bulls will always be my family as well.”

“I think that’s true for all of us Noelle. No matter where we started from, we’ve all found a home in this squad haven’t we?” Finral asked.

Noelle looked to be in agreement, before looking at him for a long moment. He was about to ask what was wrong, when he got his biggest surprise in a night full of shocks. Noelle jumped forward and wrapped him in a painfully tight hug for a brief moment, and in a moment of unexpected honesty, she said quietly into his chest that “I wish I had a brother like you growing up Finral,” before promptly moving back, a blush covering what appeared to be her whole head.

Finral was too shocked to react to the hug, but quickly responded in his typical fashion.

“A royal beauty telling me to be her big brother?! I can see why Gauche is so obsessed with Marie now!” His exclamation was met with swift punishment, a smack on the back of the head derailing any further embarrassing words.

“Whatever! Geez forget I even said anything, hurry up and take me back to the base whimpy Finral!” Noelle screamed at him, utterly mortified at his response. 

“Yes, yes, I got it,” Finral said, having calmed down himself, though he was clearly still perversely happy.

Asta was a bit of an idiot. He knew this from the amount of times he got called it growing up, as well as a self-awareness that he had a very poor understanding of social situations generally, that was only made worse when in the presence of nobility, who lived a completely different life to him. 

So, while Asta was aware that Noelle had a pretty poor relationship with her siblings, he also knew that they had recently reconciled, and Nozel was far more open with his younger sister. Knowing this, he wasn’t as surprised as the other Bulls when Nozel had made an offer to Noelle to join their squad, as a Vice captain no less! So while it was the last thing he wanted from a personal stand point, he knew that he should be prepared to say goodbye to his friend, as it wouldn’t be fair to hold her back, both personally and professionally. 

So when he expressed this, as much as it hurt, he had thought he was doing the right thing, only for Noelle to send him flying with a particularly nasty water attack. Asta had really no clue as to what was wrong when Noelle had stormed off, and everyone told him he was an idiot. 

That is until Vanessa explained to him just how much the Black Bulls, and him specifically, meant to Noelle. It’s not like he couldn’t understand, he cared for their squad just as much. So to be so seemingly fine with shipping off a member of the team, he could understand now that it may have appeared he wasn’t bothered by the fact she was leaving, and wasn’t willing to fight for her to stay, But that wasn’t the case at all. If Noelle didn’t want to go, there wasn’t a thing on Earth could take her, he would make sure of that. Noe he just needed to let Noelle know that. So when he felt the familiar feeling of Finral’s spacial magic enter the base, and Noelle walked through, he immediately jumped to his feet, ran over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Noelle!” Asta screamed, stunning her, “I don’t want you to go at all! I want you to stay with the Black Bulls and be together for ever!” 

“F-f-fo-for ever!!” Noelle stuttered back, seemingly unable to form a coherent sentence anymore.

“Yeah! You, me and the rest of the team! More than anything I want us all to stay together!” Asta responded with his typical passion.

“Isn’t that great Noelle, now you two are all made up,” said Vanessa,

“I guess,” Noelle said quietly, still trying to fight off her blush at the bold declaration from Asta. Clearing her throat, she said a bit more loudly, “Anyway, despite how much you all annoy me, I guess you’re not the worst group of people I could stay around.”

“So, that means you’re officially staying with us, huh Lady Noe?” Magna questioned.

“What did I just say, peasant?” Magna squawked in outrage, but she blew it off like nothing, “Anyway, are you just going to sit around all night? I thought we were meant to be celebrating as a squad,”

This seemingly summoned Charmy, who appeared with an army of cotton sheep, all carrying a tray of some delicious looking food. Everyone cheered at the arrival, and for the rest of the night they all had fun together for the last time in what would be a very long time. 

The next morning found Noelle walking through the royal capital alone. Thankfully, she had never been fond of drinking too much, so she didn’t have a hangover or anything, and the nervous feeling in her stomach made it impossible to feel the effects of her late night the previous day. Many of the others had offered to come with her for moral support in turning down the offer from her brother, but she had decided this was something she needed to do alone. 

Striding into the palace that had once been her home, many of the guards seemed to be looking at her somewhat nervously. Noelle had always been the black sheep of the royal family, and no one had ever held any reason to be nervous around her, she was not threatening in any way, and no one respected her. Now though, things were different. She was part of the Black Bulls team that had gone from the worst squad to second in a single year, and people old enough to remember her mother were shocked to see the failed daughter of the Silva house possess the powerful Valkyrie armour that had made her mother famous. She was one of the few magic knights capable of defeating the powerful elves by herself. It was no surprise that many were nervous to see her walking through the castle now, given how many had directly insulted her as a child. She wasn’t here for petty vengeance though, and so walked passed members of the staff and lower ranked royal family members without a glance. She had come early enough in the morning as to know that the rest of the main family would be eating breakfast still before heading out to the Silver Eagles Headquarters.

Walking past a portrait of her mother, she arrived at the dining room and let out a shaky breath, before letting herself in. Having used the main doors, which only the royal family could use, Solid immediately stood up about to scold whoever entered. However, at seeing Noelle, he scowled harshly, annoyed to see her.

It was clear to her from that alone that Solid, and by extension Nebra, had been informed about the position she was being offered in their squad. While he could acknowledge her strength, Solid still hated her for being the one to have caused his mothers death, something else that she didn’t understand. While she now knew the real reason for her mothers early death, even if she had been the cause of it, why hate a child that had no say in the matter? It didn’t make sense to her. She was a little impressed that he managed to hold his tongue, as he sat down, looking livid.

Looking past him, she saw her only sister looking very down, certainly not the usual nasty, arrogant look that Noelle had seen growing up. She wondered what had put her in such a mood, but decided to ignore it, as she looked at the one she had come to see. Nozel looked a little surprised to see her, probably not expecting such a quick response given her state when he had last left her.

“Noelle,” Nozel started, “I’m surprised you have come so soon.”

“Yes, well we wanted to set off soon for the Heart Kingdom, and I thought it was best I see you personally,” Noelle said carefully. Immediately though, Nozel’s face dropped, any hint of openness disappearing.

“I see,” he said sternly, correctly deducing that she was not coming with the news he had hoped.

“I appreciate the offer, really I do, but I…“ in the face of her brothers disapproval, she had lost her nerve immediately, all thoughts of her anger flying out the window. Suddenly, she wished she had not come alone.

Seeing Noelle’s weakness, Solid jumped at the opportunity to speak his mind.

“I told you Elder Brother, how could you even think of offering Noelle such a position? She has no idea how insulting she is, waltzing in here spitting in your face like that after such a generous of-“

“Solid be silent,” Nozel said sharply, immediately causing Solid to snap his mouth shut. Nozel looked back to Noelle, before sighing, making an effort to not look so harsh.

“To be honest I’m disappointed Noelle,” Nozel began. He knew those were the wrong words when Noelle looked like she had been slapped. Just as he was about to continue, all hints of nerves disappeared from Noelle’s face, and a rage that had never been directed at him appeared.

“Disappointed?” Noelle questioned, looking him dead in the eye, “You think you get to say that after everything? You all treated me like I didn’t belong in this family my entire life, no worse, you told me I shouldn’t even exist!” Noelle screamed. Before any of them could hope to respond, Noelle thundered on.

“And now I’m not so pathetic, you’re just going to take me from the only people to ever treat me like actual family? And you’re disappointed?” Snapping her gaze to her other two siblings, she said “You two have never even apologised for how you treated me, and I’m meant to be all happy and grateful that I get the privilege of spending time with you? To hell with that.” Like the previous night, her anger had caused her to start breathing heavily. Looking at their reactions, she was satisfied somewhat that Nebra and even Nozel looked a bit chastised, but was unsurprised when Solid met her angry words with venom.

“The same goes right back at you Noelle! Just because you have a few decent spells now, you think you get to walk around here like you own the place? I’ll never forget what you are Noelle, no matter how strong you get, you’ll always be a failure to us!” 

Nozel slammed his hands on to the table, standing up. Everyone in the room tensed up and looked over at Nozel.

“Solid, Nebra, leave now. I want to speak alone with Noelle,” the deadly calm of his voice put everyone on edge. Solid looked like he was about to protest, but managed to keep it in, before storming out of the room. Nebra looked a bit more hesitant as she slowly walked away. Just before leaving though, she turned around and said,

“Noelle, I… I’m sorry, about everything.” With that, Nebra left quickly, completely disarming Noelle of her anger. Noelle and Nebra where further in age than she and Solid, and as such had seen much less of her growing up. That being said, they never had a pleasant interaction either, with Nebra going the more psychological way to bully her, often smashing her mirrors and other mean acts to demean her, as opposed to Solid, who would more directly mess with her. So, getting an apology from Nebra was about as shocking as it would be coming from Solid. Looking to Nozel, she hoped he could get a reason.

“I informed her about our mother,” he said simply, causing Nolle to nod slowly. From what she could gather, Nebra had been much more impacted by the death of her mother than Solid, who had only been four when it happened, barely old enough to have started forming memories. 

“Noelle,” Nozel said, cutting off any more thoughts she could have about it, “I wasn’t lying when I said I was disappointed. You would be a great asset to our squad, and this is where the Silva family have always belonged. However, I also am not surprised by your decision. You are right to be angry at us still, we treated you poorly to say the least, and so to take you away from where you are happy was not my intension in the slightest. I merely wanted you to know, you are also always welcome here, we are your family, even if some don’t want to acknowledge it.”

Nozel finished his explanation and waited for Noelle to react. She had taken in his words carefully and thought for a long time before responding.

“I do appreciate the offer, and I know you weren’t trying to make me unhappy by offering,” Noelle said, “But you also need to know that the Black Bulls is my family too, and I’m never going to leave them, especially at a time like this, where Asta needs all the support he can get.”

Nozel closed his eyes and let out a soft exhale, before nodding.

“I understand your decision, and I can respect your resolve,” he said finally.

Noelle nodded in thanks, genuinely happy to have gotten some words off of her chest, and also the understanding of her brother. After this however an awkward silence formed, the two unsure of how to proceed now that their issues had been sorted.

“Well,” Noelle broke first, averting her gaze, “I guess that will be it then. I’ll be off to the Heart kingdom soon, so I’ll not see you for a little while,”

Nozel nodded, “I expect you to come back stronger than ever, Noelle. Don’t let me down.”

Smiling up at him, Noelle responded with a quick “Yeah,” before looking anxious again. She was clearly wanting to leave, but thought it would be rude to go without being dismissed. Sighing, Nozel took her by surprise when he wrapped her smaller frame in a light, brief hug, before turning away to hide his own small blush. 

“i’ll see you soon, Noelle.”

With that, she finally felt comfortable to leave, a happy smile on her face at the first show of affection from her brother. Walking with a bit of a skip in her step she stopped briefly to look at the picture of her mother.

‘Mother, I’m sure you would have rather we been together as siblings, under your squad, but that isn’t possible at the moment.,’ Noelle thought to herself, ‘Someday, I know we’ll all be able to get along, but for now, I need to focus on getting stronger on the path I’ve chosen for myself. I hope you’d be happy with the choices I’ve made.’

Predictably, she receive no response, not even a hint that she had been heard, but still, talking to the portrait had always made her feel better, and this time was no different. Leaving, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she could finally move forwards with her old family, while still being with her new one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the ending was a bit meh, but wasn't too sure how else to do it, so here we are! A point I'd like to make now about the Silva family, I actually think Solid is probably less guilty in terms of Noelle's bad treatment more generally than Nebra. He was very young himself when his mother died, so if he saw his other siblings being nice, he probably would too. That being said, the reason I had Nozel tell Nebra about the reason for Acier's death and not Solid, I just don't think Solid is mature enough at all. Also, don't know why, but I like Nebra more, probably cause she was less visible than Solid, but also, it's mentioned that Nebra is insecure about her own abilities unlike Solid, so I could sort of see her bonding with Noelle over that.
> 
> Also, I am awful at comforting people in real life, so I didn't know why I thought I'd be able to do a good job of it through Finral, but here we are lol, hope it wasn't too bad.
> 
> I really enjoyed writing this story, so please let me know how you though it went, I have a few other ideas floating around for this fandom, so I'll try and write them out at some point. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was just going to be a one-shot, but it sort of got away from me, so hopefully I'll put the rest out tomorrow if I can find the time to write it. Asta unfortunately had to be the sacrificial lamb here to get the drama going lol, but to be honest I could sort of see him being like this, given how much he values both family and merit - the way he can become King. While I'm sure he would never leave to join another squad himself, it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to encourage others down that path, even though in Noelle's case, that is the last thing she wants to hear, she wants him to ask her to stay. I love Asta, so I'll make sure he redeems himself a bit next time. This is super mild AstaxNoelle, but it's mainly about her relationship with her squad and family. 
> 
> Next time:  
> Finral and Noelle bond over their awful siblings  
> Asta realises he's an idiot  
> Noelle gives her family a piece of her mind
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed, and feel free to tell me if I messed anything up, or if a character was too far from their canon self. This is my first story so open to any criticism to improve!


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